the Infinity has been my daily grinder for seven years (so far) and overall I'm satisfied. I have no experience with other grinders, so my input here is limited. But I've never had a problem (again, after 7 yrs. of near-daily use) and it works well for my two methods - Technivorm and pourover.

Still, when replacement day finally arrives, I plan to upgrade in a big way -- probably a Vario or maybe higher, like a Mazzer (hey, a guy can dream). But for basic burr grinding, the Infinity has served me well. Good luck!

Interesting, I am seeing that in other threads too: regarding the newer Breville SG being tuned more for espresso. I do like the idea of having it automatically dose for me, but many folks are saying they end up weighing their beans for the Breville SG anyway. The Virtuoso has a timer, but from the looks of it, it would be difficult to repeatedly dose out the same amount with much accuracy. Although there is an upgrade path to the Baratza base with scale.

These nice (and highly caffeinated) ladies from SCG directly compare the grounds at different settings (near the end):

Looks to confirm that the Baratza has more lattitude at the course end of things, although they do mention it's not as consistent there. I wonder, as they suggest, one would ever need to grind that course. Personally, I will use mine probably 90% for drip and 10% FP or the Clever that's been recommended here. It does appear that the Virtuoso is generally better suited to produce courser grinds, though.

You'll always want to weigh your dose if a full hopper, once you do it a bunch of times and write down the grams and time taken to grind, you should have an average of what X time = for grams. Or just single dose, I single dose on the Preciso. I can't remember with the SG, but the Baratza grinders have about the lowest retention for motorized grinders which makes them awesome for single dosing. I weigh before and after and always within .5g, sometimes higher but either way a purge or two or tap and the grinds will then weigh what I dosed.

If you consider the Virtuoso, check Baratzas site on Thursdays as thats when they update their refurb listings, may even snag a deal on a Preciso lol

Interesting, I am seeing that in other threads too: regarding the newer Breville SG being tuned more for espresso. I do like the idea of having it automatically dose for me, but many folks are saying they end up weighing their beans for the Breville SG anyway. The Virtuoso has a timer, but from the looks of it, it would be difficult to repeatedly dose out the same amount with much accuracy. Although there is an upgrade path to the Baratza base with scale.

These nice (and highly caffeinated) ladies from SCG directly compare the grounds at different settings (near the end):

Looks to confirm that the Baratza has more lattitude at the course end of things, although they do mention it's not as consistent there. I wonder, as they suggest, one would ever need to grind that course. Personally, I will use mine probably 90% for drip and 10% FP or the Clever that's been recommended here. It does appear that the Virtuoso is generally better suited to produce courser grinds, though.

In that video, they are taking each machine to its coarsest possible grind. Because the Virtuoso goes so much coarser, the comparison of consistency is unfair. If you compare the machines at the same actual coarseness, the Virtuoso should be at least as consistent as the Breville.

It is also worth noting that if you want to measure out perfect doses from a full hopper, the Virtuoso or Preciso offers a much better option than you will ever get with the Breville in the Esatto. If you are not familiar with this, it is an external scale that attaches to the grinder and stops the grinder at the set dose. Since it is an add-on, you can get the Virtuoso or Preciso now and then upgrade down the road when you are ready. It's on my Christmas list (actually, at this point it would be more accurate to say that it IS my Christmas list :P).

WTX.... Can't go wrong with Virtuoso for your TV drip or FP. One thing that impressed me, prior to my purchase, was low grounds retention after grinding as CMIN just mentioned. Baratzas are SO easy/quick to clean too. I weigh before & after grinding, giving the grinder a tap on the back while tipping forward a bit---what goes in comes out same weight.

Picked up an Infinity just for a back-up grinder (got locally w/20% off coupon for $72 before tax). Not bad for temp use but retains grounds like crazy and that's a big pain in the ___! At least it's very light weight which makes it easy to pick up/turn over & dump out what you don't lastly tap out for brewing.

Virtuoso and Preciso are the same grinder EXCEPT for the Micro adjustment on Preciso.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I took Justin's tip and found a refurb deal on Baratza's site this morning. The Virtuoso was unavailable but they had a refurb Precisio for about the same price as retail Virtuoso. I think this will be a good investment, and now I'm covered if I ever want to get started with espresso. I'll have to put the scale on my Christmas list :)

Sounds like you made a wise choice. I don't think you will regret it. And if you're anything like me you will have a blast tinkering with the settings. If nothing else it's a good excuse to drink a ton of coffee and get really wired.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I took Justin's tip and found a refurb deal on Baratza's site this morning. The Virtuoso was unavailable but they had a refurb Precisio for about the same price as retail Virtuoso. I think this will be a good investment, and now I'm covered if I ever want to get started with espresso. I'll have to put the scale on my Christmas list :)

Haha no prob, at first I was like Justin?!? lol. Can't go wrong with the Preciso, flat out kicks ass for coarse grinding and it's lack of fines (and though not really needed you can still use the micro once you have a sweet spot on the Macro to dial in further if you want). And if you do go for espresso, you'll be set there. Baratza still covers the refurbs under warranty as well.

The estatto is fine, but if you want these grinders work so well for single dosing b/c of the low retention. Get a cheap digi scale that measures to .1g, and use something to put beans in to weigh with the cup or whatever used weight tared out. Then tare out the weight of the bin (I think it's 85.4g on my scale) and weigh the output.

Pardon me as I momentarily stray from the subject here BUT I haven't seen any "cheap" digi scales---what' a good, inexpensive brand/model digi scale?

My OXO is ok but I want something more accurate. My grounds bin is consistent 86g empty on my OXO so 86.4 on your digi scale shows the difference in accuracy.

Hey WTX..... Although I've heard good things about YouBrew, you already have the king of brewers. All in all, it's best to have grinder and brewer separate. Therefore you have complete control of each.

Yes, CoffeeGuyDenton.... been messing with different grind settings on my replacement, seems every grinder's different. AND I do drink lots of coffee---love it!!!

Pardon me as I momentarily stray from the subject here BUT I haven't seen any "cheap" digi scales---what' a good, inexpensive brand/model digi scale?

My OXO is ok but I want something more accurate. My grounds bin is consistent 86g empty on my OXO so 86.4 on your digi scale shows the difference in accuracy.

Hey WTX..... Although I've heard good things about YouBrew, you already have the king of brewers. All in all, it's best to have grinder and brewer separate. Therefore you have complete control of each.

Yes, CoffeeGuyDenton.... been messing with different grind settings on my replacement, seems every grinder's different. AND I do drink lots of coffee---love it!!!

made a mistake its 86.4 calibrated not 85.. Mine was like 10 bucks on amazon prime last year, american weigh. There could be a slight difference, manufacturibg those bins could be off fractions of a gram, weather etc. Thats why its good to buy a calibration weight to check.

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